Gilby Clarke Turned Down Guns N’ Roses Reunion for His Daughter

Gilby Clarke revealed the reason he wasn’t part of the Guns N’ Roses reunion that started in 2016, saying the invitation to take part had clashed with an important event in his daughter's life.

“When it first started, they did reach out to me to come and play,” Clarke told Eddie Trunk on his SiriusXM Trunk Nation show. “I’ve said that they did ask me before. I’ve never said why I didn’t do it.

“The real reason is, they asked me, but you know my daughter Frankie has a band [Frankie + the Studs]. … They asked me the same day my daughter’s band was playing Lollapalooza, which as like the biggest break for her band and stuff. It was the same day they were playing Lollapalooza and I had to be there, and I couldn’t really give that up to go be the third guitar player in [Guns N’ Roses].”

You can listen to the full interview below.

Clarke admitted he’d been surprised by the reunion’s success. “I think we all expected great things," he said. "I think we all thought that they were gonna sell out everywhere. But to be honest I didn’t think that it was last this long and do this well. I definitely didn’t expect that.”

He added that he’d seen his former colleagues recently in a rehearsal complex, though he doesn’t “really talk to them” on a regular basis. “I mean, I’m still cool with Axl [Rose],” he noted. “I’m still cool with everybody. I have no ill feelings or anything.” Asked if he was still open to a reunion he replied, “I have nothing against it – it’s just that didn’t work out for me.”

In 2013 Clarke recalled how his three-year tenure with the band had ended, saying he suspected a split was coming when they recorded their cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" without involving him.

"It was pretty clear I'm a big Rolling Stones fan, and they recorded the song without me. So I knew that was it," he said. "My official end was actually at the last show of the last tour. Axl was jokingly saying bye to everybody, but he was really saying bye to everybody. He even came up to me and said, 'Hey, enjoy your last show.' At that point I thought he was being funny, but he wasn't being funny. He knows what he's doing. He's a smart guy. So I knew it was the end at the last show."